Farmers Market Summer Salad with Baked Chicken Breast

This is a delicious summer salad full of flavor and crisp color. You can vary the ingredients to include your favorite vegetables. I included fresh summer tomatoes and crunchy corn, along with carrots and cucumber. Sliced grapes could be a great addition if you want a hint of sweet flavor! Also, I use raw corn in this recipe, if you haven’t tried this before, don’t worry – it tastes almost exactly like cooked corn with a little extra crunch. Fresh, sweet corn can be such a treat straight off the cob! The dressing adds a tart richness and is semi-creamy in consistency due to the mustard.

Besides roasting a chicken whole, this is my favorite way to prepare chicken breast – it’s a quick method that keeps the chicken moist and flavorful. I use an oven-proof skillet but you can also use a regular skillet and then transfer to a baking sheet to finish the chicken. If you don’t have a cast-iron oven skillet I highly suggest getting one – they are so useful and pretty inexpensive

Ingredients

1 tbsp. olive oil
4 skinless chicken breasts, rinsed, trimmed and patted dry
Steak seasoning or coarse S/P
2 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 cup olive oil
1/4 cup balsamic
A few sprigs fresh thyme (or other fresh herb)
S/P
2 ears fresh corn, husks and silk removed, sliced off the cob
1 pound arugula or one large head romaine or green leaf lettuce
2 large tomatoes, sliced into wedges
2 large carrots, sliced
1 large cucumber, sliced
Blue cheese for garnish

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat 1 tbsp. olive oil in a large oven-proof skillet on medium-high. Season chicken with a generous amount of steak seasoning or S/P. Cook the chicken for about 2 minutes on each side until you get a golden brown sear on each side. Transfer to oven and cook until opaque throughout, about 5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the breasts.
While the chicken cooks, prepare your salad dressing by combining the mustard, olive oil, balsamic, and thyme in a mason jar, or other closed lid container. Season with S/P. Shake well and taste. Adjust if needed and set aside.
Prepare your salad by combining all the vegetables and tossing.
Once the chicken is cooked, let rest a few minutes while you plate the salad and toss with the dressing. Place sliced chicken on top of the salad, garnish with cheese and serve immediately.